Shinsali
Shinsali (natively Icëlatam it͡səlatam) is a language isolate spoken natively by approximately 150,000 of the Shinsali people in the Shinsali Confederacy, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a predominantly prefixing agglutinative language which has various polysynthetic tendencies. General information Shinsali is a non-noun-incorporating polysynthetic-agglutinative language. Despite being head-final, the language uses postpositions. It is generally prefixing, however there are a few odd verbal suffixes. Word order is SOV in normal sentences, but VSO in relative clauses. Verbs decline for 14 aspects and 7 moods, but there is no morphological tense. Verbs can indicate deictal information as well on verbs of motion. Nouns decline as well, for case, number, definiteness, and posession. Phonology Consonants *All consonants can occur as geminates. Word-initial and word-final geminate plosives are often realized as affricates. Vowels *Vowels can form closing and opening diphthongs with /j/ and /w/. *Allophonic long vowels can occur across syllable boundaries, but these can also be pronounced as a single short vowel or with hiatus. Orthography Most phonemes are written the same as their IPA symbol. The ones that do not are listed in the table below. If a phoneme written as a digraph is to be geminated, only the first element of the digraph is doubled, as in ttj -'' /c:/. If /tc/ or any similar combination of sounds (i.e. those which would be written using the same character twice, not indicating gemination) is written with an ''x between the single grapheme and the digraph, but is not pronounced using a glottal stop. Phonotactics The syllable structure is simple ©(L/A)V©. There are no consonant clusters other than syllble-initial consonant-liquid/approximant clusters. Grammar Verbs Shinsali verbs are very complex. They are aspect- and mood-heavy, but have no morphological tense. Verbs of motion, as with many languages, are more complex than other verbs. In Shinsali, verbs of motion indicate deictic information as well as indicating the shape of the object in motion. Verbs are almost exlusively prefixing but verbs of motion take on suffixes to indicate other infomation, such as deictal suffixes and a suffix indicating the shape of the object in motion. The deictal prefixes are used to denote the relation of the speaker and the subject. Miscellaneous prefixes Verbs can take on miscellaneous prefixes, demonstrated in the table below: Pronominal Prefixes If there is a third-person suffix there must be a deictal prefix that indicates the relation of the speaker and a third-person object unless the object is invisible to the speaker and the adressee(s). There are standalone pronouns but they are only used with prepositions. Aspect prefixes Mood prefixes Moods in Shinsali are unique in that every mood has a negative form, for example, the negative indicative translates to "not" in English, the negative imperative translates to "Don't ___!", and so on. However, there is no negative dubitative mood. Deictal prefixes Deictal prefixes indicate the relation of a third-person subject to the speaker and are only used in the precense of a third-person subject. Verb stem The verb stem in the most simple part of a Shinsali verb. Multiple verbs in a list (ex: ____ and ____ and _____) or structures like (verb) to (verb) (such as ask to leave, need to cry, etc) are stacked serially in one verbal construction. Stative verbs also act as adjectives (e.g. to be blue, to be good). Deictal suffixes Deictal suffixes are only used on verbs of motion and indicate motion. If any of these suffixes "take" an object, it goes in the prepositional case. Object shape suffixes These are used for what is in motion. For example, in the sentence "i run" an animate classifier would be used because the object in motion is a first-person speaker. Sometimes they are used in place of an object if specifying it is unnecessary. Nouns Nouns in Shinsali are inflected as well as verbs. Nouns decline for 5 cases, definiteness, plurality, and take on prefixes for posession. Noun cases Definiteness and plurality Definiteness and plurality are indicated fusionally in a single prefix. If a posessive prefix is used alongside a plural prefix, the definite prefix is used. Posessive Prefixes Pronouns Personal pronouns Shinsali has standalone pronouns, but they are rarely used outside of the genitive and prepositional cases due to pronominal indication on verbs. However, they are commonly used alongside pronominal prefixes for emphasis. The pronouns below are in the nominative case but can take on case prefixes. Reflexive pronoun The reflexive pronoun in Shinsali is the word "ang" which can be translated as self. It takes on the corresponding posessive prefix to indicate person, such as "zamang" which means "myself". Modifiers Adverbs, adjectives, and stative verbs are not distinct in Shinsali. However, they agree with the case of the noun they modify given that a modifier is being used as an adjective and use the same exact case prefix. Case prefixes come before a comparative or superlative prefix, given that one is present. They directly preceed the noun or verb they modify. Comparison is demonstrated on the modifier amatj (fast) below. Vocabulary http://conworkshop.info/dictionary.php?L=CLT Example text Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 1 Sha tjanaj sakkalaj ghanna ëmapuwanchaaj ëmëinapuasshomaajalh yma öllafjynaggzasaisit. Ëmasshettjaviaj ëmsaungas yma öparauav, allhas offovrot ëmssonakh yma öllafsalyinavvo. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 2 Gahaia isxsha isëinasshomaajalhaj isëingharumsakkal, immiönojansaaizhan kënas ëmahaizhan nja, immijuanlajus gjavad, batan, adkenat, asshitam, sikyvtjauakkha sënma wosalöf, jyvsiksosomta, ghajin, egjaco, asshjynaggasshomaajalhajakkha sënma untalo, öpaovmannat. Sënajzha, ëmtamnövang jau sanjajagghaso offtjanaj offtogjaz offromeha atsikyvtjau, atsikokhouolofakkha, atenwassaj atuntalo lhanjy wotejakaijansasaham, sikgharumsakkal, sanjajynavakromeha, sikasshwocëkaijansatjauakkha, offasshavartjau jyvasshashted wocëttojansame. Category:Languages Category:August Challenge Category:Featured